In fact, I've had back pain since first grade. At first, I got inserts where one was raised to make up the leg length difference. I was diagnosed with scoliosis in 2017. I haven't seen that much since. Despite regular physiotherapy, it continued to worsen until 2020 and I was advised to attend a scoliosis consultation at a clinic near us, as physio alone was no longer enough. In March 2020, I was given a corset that had to be worn for 20 hours a day. The part is anything but fun and despite wearing and gymnastics, scoliosis got worse again this year, even more quickly than before. Can I give myself the agony ... was my first thought.

Surgery with growth control

I was advised to consider Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT) or, alternatively, later, once I was grown up, about stiffening. I was quite insecure, helpless, taken aback by it all, and didn't want one or the other.

On the Internet we discovered the German Scoliosis Network and got prompt help in finding a clinic for a second opinion and here for the first time heard about the growing implant ApiFix.

Everything I found on the internet about ApiFix, I had looked up to the appointment at the Sana Trinity Hospital in Cologne and was quite curious if this further solution would work for me at all.

The conversation with Dr Desai was very informative, and for the first time, someone mentioned that it was not my fault that the curvature was increasing. Although it wasn't clear whether I was suitable for the growing implant, I could ask anything, my fears were taken seriously (my older sister got stiffened in 2019) and no one wanted to push me into anything. I couldn't and didn't want to make the decision on my own, but it was clear to me the next day that if a procedure is needed, please use this method and please see these doctors. I was also encouraged by other young people who already have ApiFix, who I was able to contact thanks to the phone list.

Then, in February 2021, I was operated on by Dr Desai and his team in Cologne. Everything went according to plan and by the evening I was back on my feet. Thanks to all the coronavirus measures at the time, I shared a room with my mum in the hospital, which was important to me, and it was quite quiet. This allowed me to sleep whenever I wanted and continued to recover every day.

By the time I got home, six days after the procedure, I was a little scared. But the train ride turned out to be less of a problem than I thought.

Since we had home-schooling until after Easter, I was soon able to participate in classes for hours again and thus had no bigger gaps than my classmates.

For me, it was the right decision. Because I had surgery to have less back pain and to be able to breathe again while playing the clarinet, not because something was bothering me from the outside.

Thank you to the German Scoliosis Network for the contact and information. Thank you to the entire team at Sana Trinity Hospital for the great care.